In 1976

[wbtravis007]

I was almost 23. I remember it well. It was great.

I’d bet that most people who are old enough to remember that well couldn’t tell you who our President was then.

He didn’t ruin it.

[silverscreenselect]

Actually, Gerald Ford, who was in the middle of an ultimately unsuccessful election campaign against Jimmy Carter, was busy on the Fourth, attending celebrations at Valley Forge, Philadelphia, and New York harbor before watching the fireworks show from the White House. However, he kept a low profile. His senior aide, David Gergen, advised him to keep politics out of the celebration and avoid political codewords and partisan insinuations.

Ford delivered a speech in Philadelphia, and it's a wonderful speech, talking about the Declaration of Independence and the hardships that the signers endured. Not one word about himself or the upcoming election: https://www.fordforum.org/observer-essa ... iladelphia

An excerpt:

Altogether, of the 56 men who signed our great Declaration, 5 were taken prisoner, 12 had their homes sacked, 2 lost their sons, 9 died in the war itself. Those men knew what they were doing. In the final stirring words of the Declaration, they pledged to one another "our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." And when liberty was at stake, they were willing to pay the price.

We owe a great debt to these founders and to the foot soldiers who followed General Washington into battle after battle, retreat after retreat. But it is important to remember that final success in that struggle for independence, as in the many struggles that have followed, was due to the strength and support of ordinary men and women who were motivated by three powerful impulses -- personal freedom, self-government, and national unity.

Gerald Ford was a Republican but he was a moderate (someone who would be laughed out of the Republican party today as a RINO), and he served in combat in the Navy in World War II and had a distinguished career in business and politics. He would have been disgusted at what Trump is turning the Independence Day celebrations into.

[wbtravis007]

Actually, Gerald Ford, who was in the middle of an ultimately unsuccessful election campaign against Jimmy Carter, was busy on the Fourth, attending celebrations at Valley Forge, Philadelphia, and New York harbor before watching the fireworks show from the White House. However, he kept a low profile. His senior aide, David Gergen, advised him to keep politics out of the celebration and avoid political codewords and partisan insinuations.

Ford delivered a speech in Philadelphia, and it's a wonderful speech, talking about the Declaration of Independence and the hardships that the signers endured. Not one word about himself or the upcoming election: https://www.fordforum.org/observer-essa ... iladelphia

An excerpt:

Altogether, of the 56 men who signed our great Declaration, 5 were taken prisoner, 12 had their homes sacked, 2 lost their sons, 9 died in the war itself. Those men knew what they were doing. In the final stirring words of the Declaration, they pledged to one another "our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." And when liberty was at stake, they were willing to pay the price.

We owe a great debt to these founders and to the foot soldiers who followed General Washington into battle after battle, retreat after retreat. But it is important to remember that final success in that struggle for independence, as in the many struggles that have followed, was due to the strength and support of ordinary men and women who were motivated by three powerful impulses -- personal freedom, self-government, and national unity.

Gerald Ford was a Republican but he was a moderate (someone who would be laughed out of the Republican party today as a RINO), and he served in combat in the Navy in World War II and had a distinguished career in business and politics. He would have been disgusted at what Trump is turning the Independence Day celebrations into.

Exactly.

[flockofseagulls104]

Gerald Ford was a Republican but he was a moderate (someone who would be laughed out of the Republican party today as a RINO), and he served in combat in the Navy in World War II and had a distinguished career in business and politics.

Gerald Ford was a nice guy and a patriot, but he was NEVER elected to a nationwide office. It is very nice of you to applaud him and his service, but I very much doubt you would have said anything nice about him then, or even now if he was running for anything.

As for being laughed out of the party, the world was different then. Nowadays he would have to show if he was a republican in the Thune/McConnell camp (SWAMP FIRST) or the MAGA camp (AMERICA FIRST). Coming from a long career in Congress, it is likely he would protect the Washington bureaucracy, but who knows? Unlike you, I know that I don't know what I don't know.

You really have no grounds for judging republicans while your own party is being taken over by communists and anarchists while you are obsessed with TDS.

He would have been disgusted at what Trump is turning the Independence Day celebrations into.

It must be so nice to have such vision that spans time and space. You don't seem to be able to stop yourself from making absurd statements like this that there is no possible way to prove. But anyway, I must be so blind, because I do not see what trump is turning Independence Day celebrations into that you are seemingly so upset about. I am not asking you to expand or respond. I am sure your response would just be a plethora of bullshit, and I don't want to hear it.

[jarnon]

Pres. Nixon intended to read the Declaration of Independence aloud in Philadelphia. At the time I was appalled and was relieved when it didn’t happen. Actually, Nixon meant to honor his ancestor, Pennsylvania patriot leader John Nixon, who read the Declaration in public for the first time on July 8, 1776. Pres. Nixon was a shy man who didn’t make himself the focus of every event.

[silverscreenselect]

while your own party is being taken over by communists and anarchists

That communist and anarchist Zohran Mamdani seems to be doing quite well in New York City without resorting to communism or anarchy. AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Mamdani are all more popular with the general public than any Republican politiician. Democrats and independents are tired of mainstream politicians like Chuck Schumer who want to play nice and "reason" with the Republicans. They want fighters against Trump and MAGA, and that's what they're getting.

And if you don't think Trump is neck deep in the swamp, you obviously didn't see his financial disclosure statement.

[wbtravis007]

Gerald Ford was a Republican but he was a moderate (someone who would be laughed out of the Republican party today as a RINO), and he served in combat in the Navy in World War II and had a distinguished career in business and politics.

Gerald Ford was a nice guy and a patriot, but he was NEVER elected to a nationwide office. It is very nice of you to applaud him and his service, but I very much doubt you would have said anything nice about him then, or even now if he was running for anything.

I liked and respected him and Betty. And so did most people that I knew. Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic, but it seems like there are a lot more idiots around now than there were back then.

He beat Reagan in a nationwide election.

[jarnon]

I liked and respected him and Betty. And so did most people that I knew. Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic, but it seems like there are a lot more idiots around now than there were back then.

There were idiots then: Nixon, Agnew and their cronies like Colson and Stone. I had a bad case of Nixon derangement syndrome. Ford was a relief after they left, even though his policies were similar and he had setbacks such as Cambodia. Also there were extremists such as Goldwater and Wallace. Plenty of extremists on the left too.

One thing that hasn’t changed: Chevy Chase parodied Ford bitingly on SNL.

[elwoodblues]

That was the first year I was old enough to vote in a Presidential election, and I voted for Ford. People think Carter won because of Watergate, which was a major scandal then but would be a slow Tuesday for the current administration. But another factor was that he was the first major party Presidential nominee from the Deep South, and many southerners who otherwise would not have agreed with him supported him that one time for that reason. There are four states -- Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas -- which voted for him in 1976 but have not voted for a Democratic candidate for President since then.

[flockofseagulls104]

I voted for Carter. Twice. (In different elections, for those keeping score). Then I became an adult and aware of what a wonderful, unique and exceptional nation this is. I stopped the neverending protesting of things I really had just shallow understanding of and about which I was 'told' what to think.
Unfortunately many people from the sixties have never grown up, especially on the west coast. I believe these aging hippies are why we now have a segment of the population that thinks socialism and communism are somehow good things.

[Weyoun]

I voted for Carter. Twice. (In different elections, for those keeping score). Then I became an adult and aware of what a wonderful, unique and exceptional nation this is. I stopped the neverending protesting of things I really had just shallow understanding of and about which I was 'told' what to think.
Unfortunately many people from the sixties have never grown up, especially on the west coast. I believe these aging hippies are why we now have a segment of the population that thinks socialism and communism are somehow good things.

Or it could be that your brain just started to rot. You seemed to develop a lot of conspiracy theories about how many people in the country, especially non-white, want to take from you - but you have nothing of value to take.

[flockofseagulls104]

I voted for Carter. Twice. (In different elections, for those keeping score). Then I became an adult and aware of what a wonderful, unique and exceptional nation this is. I stopped the neverending protesting of things I really had just shallow understanding of and about which I was 'told' what to think.
Unfortunately many people from the sixties have never grown up, especially on the west coast. I believe these aging hippies are why we now have a segment of the population that thinks socialism and communism are somehow good things.

Or it could be that your brain just started to rot. You seemed to develop a lot of conspiracy theories about how many people in the country, especially non-white, want to take from you - but you have nothing of value to take.

You are certifiable.